South West Environment Network meetings & Partner meetings (below)

We've just had the SWEN Natural Economy & Localism Plenary. For the headline points and presentations see under previous SWEN meetings below.

Future plenary dates are:

• Thursday 21st June 2012 RIO+20 & A New Network for a new Era;

• Thursday 13th September 2012 tbc

• Thursday 15th November 2012 SWEN & Local Authorities 

2012 SWEN Management Group dates:

• Thursday 2nd February
• Thursday 15th March
• Thurs 17th May
• Thursday 6th September
•  Thursday 18th October
• Thursday 1st December

Partner meetings:

1. Valuing Ecosystems: Policy, Economic & Management Interactions – April 2012

   SAC & SEPA BIENNIAL CONFERENCE (in association with Forest Research, the James Hutton Institute and Scottish Natural Heritage)  3-4 April 2012, Edinburgh
   Integrated management of our agricultural and forestry landscapes is essential to the delivery of multiple ecosystem services. However, current understanding of the linkages between different ecosystems and the services they provide is incomplete. The management implemented therefore needs to be flexible to adapt to these uncertainties. The need for implementation at the landscape scale also means integrating management practices across different land-managers.

   This conference will seek to present not only the best possible scientific understanding of the complexities associated with the delivery of multiple ecosystem services but also provide a forum to raise and discuss what still needs to be done to have an ecosystem approach recognised and supported by land managers, researchers and policy makers. The conference will be relevant to members of all three of these target audiences.

   A range of platform presentations will be made under the four conference themes:
   1. How are the linkages between ecosystems and the services they provide currently understood, viewed and valued?

   2. What does the delivery of multiple ecosystem services mean at a practical level in terms of management and scale of implementation?

   3. How does the governance of landscape-scale management affect the delivery of multiple ecosystem services?

   4. How does our thinking, management practices and policies need to adapt?

   The keynotes for each of the four themes will be given by Jonathan Pryce from the Scottish Government (Theme 1), Brian Chambers from ADAS (Theme 2), Heidi Wittmer from Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (Theme 3) and Tom Crompton from WWF (Theme 4). The Conference will take place in the John McIntyre Conference Centre of the University of Edinburgh on 3-4 April 2012. Details of Costs and Accommodation can be found at www.sac.ac.uk/sacsepaconf.

2. www.cambridgeconservationforum.org.uk.

3. The Natural Capital Initiative (NCI) organised three workshops exploring the implications of large-scale biodiversity off-setting in the UK during 2010. Reports of the workshops Towards no net loss and beyond are available: http://naturalcapitalinitiative.org.uk/46-towards_no_net_loss_and_beyond/  
organised three workshops exploring the implications of large-scale biodiversity off-setting in the UK during 2010. Reports of the workshops Towards no net loss and beyond are available:   

Previous SWEN meetings:

January 2012 Natural Economy & Localism: Andrew Simms from the new economic foundation emphasised this is a grat time to be talking about the green economy. he referenced Herman Daly  the econoist who writes about subtle & complex economics

October 2011 Water Framework Directive: challenges of delivering the targets.

July 2011. The new Framework for Environmental Delivery with speakers including Matt Lobley of Exeter University, Mark Robins of the RSPB and Simon Brenman of South West Wildlife Trusts taking a close look at the Natural Environment White Paper, English Biodiversity Strategy and DEFRA's response to the Lawton Review for the South West. For a summary of the discussion please click here. 

March 2011 Strategic review of small scale renewable energy in the South West: what scale is appropriate; what environmental and landscale impacts are associated with different technologies. Speakers included: Adrian Lea, Cornwal Council Manager, Natural Resources Planning Team  -  Planning for Solar Farms in Cornwall Presentation & Cornwall Council Planning Guidance for Solar Farms; Andrew Honey, Director of Anient Microgeneration -  About the market & about the industry; and Birgit Hontzsch Senior Landscape Architect and Steve Adams, Senior Ecologist from Cornwall Environmental Consultants (CEC) - Large Scale Solar PV Installations: Ecology & Landscape Issues. A summary of the main points and plenary discussion around small scale renewable energy is available here.

January 2011 The Future of SWEN & Changes in Planning & Local Authorities. A note of this plenary is available here.

December 2010 Tracking change plenary: Big Society, Localism, Natural Environment White Paper, DEFRA reform, Local Enterprise Partnerships. Note of plenary available here.

June 2010 Marine Plenary: What the Marine Act means: Note of Plenary discussion available here.   Presentations by Mark Robins & Roger Covey are available. For Robin Toogood and Tom Hoopers presentations please contact Jo Traill Thomson directly.

March 2010 SWEN Priorities. Workshop discussion of delivery of Priorities.

November 2009 (Landscape Plenary) are available here.